The Real Horse Whisperers

Photography by David Benthal

Every August, the Hampton Classic unfolds like a giant pop-up book opening on Snake Hollow Road in Bridgehampton — an entire equine city set on 65 acres. It’s so expansive, the good people behind the Hampton Classic distribute maps to guide your wanderings around this temporary town of swishing tails. 

The makeshift village, planned, constructed and dismantled over and over every year for nearly half a century is one of a multitude of domestic and international jumping competitions that happen annually. But among the mind-boggling amount of logistical work that goes into these events, there’s a whole other section of inner workings that the public never really sees, unless you happen to roam away from the main draw. 

Skirting the outer tents, a quiet army of caretakers — dedicated horse grooms — brush, clean, satiate and soothe with dedication and intuition drawn from years of getting to know their charges. Remove their work and the structure and care they provide from the equation and you may as well take the spikes out of the tents. The whole operation would simply collapse.

Heroes Behind the Scenes

If you’ve never attended the Hampton Classic — maybe the glut of traffic made you keep your distance — the event really is worth seeing and experiencing. The horses, strong and tall, are beauties to behold. But the sheer size of the event is also awe-inspiring, with tents upon tents housing the stalls of dozens of competing horse farms from all over the country, there to compete in up to 200 competitions over the course of the week-long Classic. The ultimate prize they train for: the Grand Prix title (and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money that go along with it). 

There are sections for farriers (that is, the horseshoe folks), full-service on-site veterinarians, equine acupuncture, acupressure and massage and an entire giant retail section hawking everything from a new pair of spiffy Irish riding boots or hand-stitched saddles to all types of non-horsey luxury goods. And plenty of food trucks to feed the masses, too. 

And, of course, there’s the main attraction: the pristine arenas where dozens of award-winning, gorgeous, meticulously cared-for horses compete in one of the country’s largest and most prestigious jumping competitions. It draws competitors of all ages and skill levels and over 50,000 spectators to take it all in, from casual onlookers to those drinking rosé under their own bespoke tents and posing for the cameras.

But these magnificent creatures who are the stars of the show don’t simply show up shiny and healthy, ready to jump and run like the wind. They are carefully and constantly cared for by crews of experienced and apprenticing grooms, who, during the competition, wake at the crack of dawn to make sure the competing animals are not only in tip-top condition but looked after with the utmost skill and sensitivity. 

And yet, it was only two years ago that the not-for-profit International Grooms Association, with famed horseman John Madden as its first chairman, came to be, seed-funded in part by a grant by the Fédération Équestre Internationale, the global organization that sanctions competitions like the Hampton Classic.

“My experience is that grooms care so deeply for their horses that they often end up martyring themselves for that care,” he said in an interview this past May with FEI about what makes a great groom. Part of the impetus for forming the IGA was to create an advocacy arm representing these workers who pour themselves into the health and safety of the animals, sometimes to their own detriment. 

Mary Manfredi, co-founder and owner of Lutz Manfredi in North Salem, N.Y., who, with partner Peter Lutz, trains riders and horses to compete in the nation’s top competitions, including the Classic, holds a deep respect for the grooms caring for her farm’s 35 horses. When bringing on new grooms to Lutz Manfredi, she asks her long-time groomers to do the interviewing and hiring, understanding that they know the job intimately and can instinctively select others with the right potential for the work. Manfredi also knows they need to work together closely.

“They have to travel together, they share hotel rooms, they live together. I think that that’s something that I would rather they choose the people who they get along with. It’s very intimate,” she says. Although each person must work closely with a few specific horses, they really work as a team and, as Manfredi notes, are quick to help each other out. 

“What I think is remarkable is that two days ago, these were empty tents,” says Manfredi, gesturing to the elaborate stalls and rooms filled with everything she, her riders, barn manager, grooms and, ultimately, the horses could possibly need over the next eight days. “Everything that’s folded, organized and hung — it’s all the guys. The fans go up, the electrical cords, the rubber mats underneath the [wood] shavings in the stalls, the shavings themselves. Basically, when the horses come off the truck there’s a mountain of stuff to do. And they have to be absolutely in tune with the horses.”

Many of these men — as they are mostly — come on H-2 visas from Central America and Mexico to work, sometimes bringing friends and family into the fold. They work together like a band of brothers, moving from one horse show to the next, up to two or three weeks a month, in tune with each other and their animals.

“We have many wonderful men who work for us; some of them have been with me for 20 years. I think what’s really interesting is we do the visas for all our guys and they’re H-2 visas, which are considered unskilled labor,” Manfredi says. “And I’m thinking, no, they’re highly skilled. They know their horses. Their horses know their voices.”

The Show Gallops On

Daniel Balderas and Juan Rene Garcia are two of Manfredi’s trusted grooms, part of the team she deems indispensable and, indeed, skilled.

“This show is really important for the people, but also I like it. I love the horses. I love horses all my life and I worked with horses all my life,” says Balderas, who, like Garcia, is from Guanajuato, Mexico. “I don’t have a favorite horse because every one is different and every one has something special.” 

They, along with the rest of the grooms, travel with Manfredi and Lutz to competitions, where they care for the four-legged competitors, who are rotated in and out — some of the 35 total resting at the home farm in North Salem, N.Y., others out on the road with Balderas, Garcia and the rest of the team. 

“I think when somebody wants to work this job, you need to like a little bit the horses,” Balderas says. “If you are scared, an animal can feel it.”

Andres Felix Dionicio has worked for Swan Creek Farms in Bridgehampton for nearly five years. Run by owner and trainers Jagger and Mandy Topping, who took over the business from Jagger’s parents, Patsy and Alvin, the farm produces horses and riders who compete at both the regional and national level.

“We wake up in the morning and give the horses their hay and grain, and then you start turning them out into the paddock, and once they’re out we clean their stalls and change their water buckets,” says Dionicio, who rises at 5 every morning to start taking care of the animals’ needs that he oversees. That includes giving them flashing; a blanket to keep the flies off; putting on bell boots, which help prevent their shoes from getting clipped and pulling off; and putting new shavings into their stalls (like people, he says, some horses are messier than others and require an entire shaving refresh daily). 

After he brings the horses in and thoroughly brushes them, towels them down, combs their manes and tails and picks their hooves for stones and dirt, he prepares their tack for their riders and trots out the next batch and starts the process all over again.

Each year Dionicio travels to competitions all over the country. On the East Coast, that includes Wellington, Fla., and Saratoga, Saugerties and Old Salem in upstate New York, he says. And, of course, the Classic in Bridgehampton, which presents its own set of challenges: the August heat, bug bites that can cause swelling and other warm-weather maladies.

“We put fans up [in the stalls] to keep them cool, and after they’re done riding we usually hose them off and walk them a little bit to cool them down,” Dionicio says. He usually works in tandem alongside another groom, overseeing up to 13 horses at competitions. 

Even though a few years ago he’d never worked with horses before (and, he shyly says, has yet to learn to ride, although he’s gearing up for the challenge) he’s gotten so good at the grooming trade, last year he was given a special accolade at the Classic: the Grooms’ Class. Dionicio was honored with a ribbon and a cash prize awarded to the groom of the horse that wins the junior/amateur Hunt Competition and, of course, the groom of the horse that wins the Grand Prix. 

When he first was offered a job by Jagger Topping, he was a young man looking for day-labor work. Now, he says, this will be his career. 

“At the end of the day, you have to like it. You know, if you hate cooking and you’re a chef, I think the duration’s not going to be so long because it’s a labor of love,” Manfredi says. “The guys are great; they’re really great.”